This Italian band officially formed in 2003, although prior to that had been playing and jamming together for years. Their music can be best described as a hybrid sound of Santana, Saga and even ELP with trickytime signatures, light catchy vocals and changing atmospheres. The band comprises of Ivan Bertuzzi ( Accoustic and Electric Guitars), Robby Bovini - Drums and Lead Vocal, Tiziano Bolzoni - Bass, Gabriele Carboni - Flute, Vocals and Guitars and last but not least Matteo Giaculli who joined the band in 2008 who specialising in guitars.

When,
where and by whom was your band born ? Did any of you have any
experience from any other bands before forming TenMidnight ? Why did
you choose that name and what does this name means to you?

The
band
was
founded in 2004
by
five elements: we had all
other
musical experiences
before,
more
or
less
important.

The
common goal
was
to
play
a type of music that ran really in our blood
:
the
progressive
rock
that
comes
from
the 70’s
to
the present day.

We
were
pleasantly
surprised
at
how
many groups
are still
playing
this
music and
how
this is
loved
by
many
people
in
the world.

Our
previous
experiences
ranged
from
hard rock
to
progressive
to
jazz
through
the
classic … therefore a
good
source
of ideas! It
came
out a sound that reminds on one hand the
Italian
symphonic and melodic
progressive
and
on the other hand the “pomp rock” of
Kansas
or
Saga.

As
far as the name of the band is concerned, well, the choice came
spontaneously
as
our
first
musical
meetings
took
place
just
from
ten
to
midnight
in the Robby’s recording studio when we were
free
from our
daily
routine
and
we could
devote
ourselves
completely
to music.

The
name
was
therefore
an
appropriate choice
and
for us it represents the time
for
“creative freedom”.

How was the music scene in your local area when you started ?

Italy
was
and
still is
a
big cradle of
progressive
music: Genoa, Milan, Naples and Bologna are the cities were this kind
of music is more played. In
Bologna, our city (relatively
small), there
are at least
a
dozen of
bands
rather
appreciated
by
fans. What is really
missing
are
the
places
where
you
can play:
but
this
is
a
problem
that
affects
all
Italian groups
(apart
from the cover
bands!).

Over to your three albums. Your debut album was TenMidnight from
2005. Please tell us more about this album.

Our
first
self-produced
album
was
useful
to
embark us on composing,
playing,
recording,
producing
and distributing
a
CD.

We
confronted
our limitations
and
potential. We could not believe that some of our
pieces
were
broadcasted
from abroad or here in Italy nor to found reviews on magazines even
foreign.

We
remained
stunned
when
we
received
requests
for
the
album from Holland or Uzbekistan ..!

The
fans world holds the progressive rock bands: if there was
not
an audience that
supports
the
musicians
by
buying
their
work,
also
the bands
would
disappear or rather, they probably play anyway but in their garage.
In fact, in recent
years,
things
are
going on a little
worse
than
before.

Going
back to our first CD, there
is
an air of novelty and sincere enthusiasm and there were many ideas
that were deeply developed in the following years. There
are
three or four
songs
that
still
hold
up
well
compared
with
the
more
mature
pieces.

Your
second album was Run from 2008. Please tell us more about this album.

This
album
marks
our
meeting
with Mellow Records, historic label of progressive. It is certainly
an
honor to
be
part
of
the Mellow team.

“Run”
is
an
album where we ventured in various fields of progressive rock; we
tried our own balance between melody and power, between airy
keyboards and hot guitars, softened by flute entries carried by
Robby’s voice and drums.

We
have worked hard to integrate music and texts; texts where the
English language intersects with the Italian and this is very
important to give a picture of origin of the group.

The
tracks are quite unrelated to each other; they do not have a thread
but are the result of different musical ideas and feelings thus
making music, in our opinion, pleasantly listening.

Your new album is The City Of Angels from last year. Please tell us
more about this album.

“The
City of Angels” (always Mellow Records) is the more complex work
we have ever done. It is a concept album
whose
plot
is
drawn
freely
from
a
science fiction novel: “Engine Summer”, written by John Crowley.
The tracks
wind
along a
continuum
of
music
for
an hour, and it contains themes and references between tracks; in
short, it is an album that may be interesting from several points of
view. However, we have
maintained
the
presence
of
catchy melodies: this
feature
probably
comes
from
our
being
Italian….

For those of us unknown with your music; how would you describe you
music and which bands would you compare yourself with ?

Some
words to describe our music: maybe “energy”, “research of
surprise” or “complexity
hidden
beneath
the
apparent simplicity”. It is however music that reminds the
legendary bands of 70’s (we are big fans of these bands) but
without a specific similarity to any particular ones.

What is your current status & plans for this year and beyond ?

We
are
a
group
from
birth
“a
little
loose”
… in the sense
that
some of the
musicians
come
and go: they work together on some
songs,
then
they
leave away for a certain while
and,
at the end, they return.
Therefore,
it could be possible that some of us could change during the years
but this “instability” is also
a
wealth
because
you can meet with
new
people
and
therefore new
ideas
may
come out.

To wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this
interview ?

Nothing
to
add except
the
invitation
to
listen carefully to
our
music. We assure you that you
will
not be bored !!

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